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GUN CARRIAGE. No. 378,333, Patented Feb. 21, 1888.

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A.NOBLE. GUN CARRIAGE.

No. 373,333. 'Patented F3321', 1333.

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No. 378,333. Patented Feb. 21, 188.8.

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A. NOBLE.. l GUN CARRIAGE.

No. 378,333. Y Patented Feb. 21, 18.88.l

' Unirse Smarts All-trimm? OFFICE.

ANDREV NOBLE, OF NEVCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO W. G.ARMSTRONG, MITCHELL & CO., (LIMITEE) OF SAME PLACE.

GUNCARRIAGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,333, dated February21, 1888. Application filed May 10, 1887. Serial No. 237,733. (Nomodel.) Patented in England February 10, 1883, No. 756.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that' I, ANDREW NOBLE, of The Elswick Works, in the city ofNewcastleupon-Tyne, England, manufacturing engineer, a subject of theQueen of Great Britain, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Gun-Oarriages, (for which I have received Letters Patentin Great Britain, No. 756, dated February 10, 1883,) of which thefollowing is a specification.

In accordance with my improvements in guns of the class in which recoilis controlled by hydraulic apparatus the gun is carried by its trunnionsupon two hydraulic cylinders which are supported upon a slide and travelalong the slide when the gun recoils. The recoil is controlled byhydraulic cylinders and pistons. There are passages through the pistonsand valves held by springs to close these passages until the pressurewithin the cylin- .ders (arising from the recoil) is sufficient to forcethe valves from their seats. The gunslide is inclined, so that afterrecoil the gun runs out again by gravity, the liquid returning byexternal passages from one end of the cylinder to the other. There arehand-pumps on these passages, and by working these pumps the gun can berun in without tiring. There are valves by which the pump-passages canbe changed from suction to delivery, and vice versa, so that the gunmay, when necessary, be run out by the aid of the pumps.

Figure l shows a plan view, and Fig. 2 a side elevation, of a navalgun-carriage arranged, as above described, as a three-pivot carriage andalso for the recoil force to be taken up by a pair of recoil-presses,the pistons of which are iitted with spring-loaded valves, and alsoarranged withvhand-pumps for pumping the gun out or in, as hereinafterdescribed. Figs. 3 and 4 show a plan view and side elevation of anothergun-carriage in which the recoil force is similarly taken up by a pairof recoilpresses, the pistons of which are (as in the gun-carriage shownat Figs. 1 and 2) tted with spring-loaded valves. The piston-rods of therecoil-presses are in this arrangement carried through glands at thefront ends only of the cylinders and are fixed to brackets on the frontends of the slides.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section ot' a cylinder with double piston-rodand spring-loaded valves carried by the piston. Fig. Gis a longitudinalsection of a cylinder with single piston-rod and tank above thecylinder. Fig. 7 shows a longitudinal section, on an enlarged scale, ofthe cylinder, as in Fig. 5, together with the'pump and, valves. Fig. 8is a section on the line A B of Fig. 7; and Fig. 9 is a section on theline C D ot' Fig. 7, passing through one setof the pumpvalves.

The carriage, as will be seen from Fig. 2, can be pivoted centrally atA, or at aforward point, B, or at an external point by the use of thepivot-bar C and the rollers, on which the carriage trains are, as shown,capable of being set to any required horizontal angle. Each roller isalso, as shown, made up of a number of disks capable of turningindependently one of the other.

D D are the recoil-presses, one connected to each trunnion of the gunand forming the guncarriage proper. The piston-rod of each press iscarried right through the press and is firmly held at each end ofthe'slide-face. The piston Dl of each press has the spring-loaded recoilvalve or valves b arranged within it, as above described.

E E are hand-pumps by which water may be pumped from one end of thepresses to the other in either direction desired, so that by them thegun may be pumped either out or in.. The plungers of the pumps can beworked to and fro by handlevers F. The slide-face is inclined so thatthe gun may return by gravitation immediately on completing its recoil.

Carriages constructed as above described can be trained so as to bringthe muzzle of the gun within a broadside port for housing. The carriageis provided with a rear flap for housing or change pivot. When red onthe pivot-bars C, there would be a clip fitted to the carriage suiting aclip-rib xed to the deck. The carriage may be change-pivoted from onebroadside to another or from one point to another by a suitablearrangement of racers, if desired. A steel screen, G, may, if desired,be mounted at the front of the carriage, as shown.

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fl and d2 are external passages connecting the ends of the cylinder witha valve-box in which a cylindrical slide-valve, e, Works. This valve canbe moved by a hand-lever. f and f2 are other passages leading from thevalvebox to the pump E.

f is the pump-suction passage, and j? is the delivery-passage.

F is the hand-lever for Working the pump.

The pump may be double-acting, as here shown, or single-acting pumps maybe einployed.

The action is as follows: 1When the recoil takes place, the liquid inthe cylinder is driven through the passages a in the piston against theresistance of the spring c. After the recoil the gun returns down theinclined slide by gravity. Liquid then passes from the cylinder by thepassage d into the box containing the slide-valve e. It issues from thevalvebox by the suction-pipe f, lifts the pump- Valves, and so reachesthe delivery-pipe f2. The pipe]C2 delivers the liquid into the annularchannel around the valve e, and the liquid again reaches the cylinder bythe passage d2. If the gun should fail to run out, it can be forced outby Working the pumps. To force the gun in without ring, the valve c ismoved over by means of the hand-lever, and the pumps are then Worked.

Vhen, as in Figs. 3, 4.-, and 6, the cylinders are iitted with singlepistons, tanks are cast in the carriages above the presses. A passage,

H, passes from the frontend of each tank 1 to the rear end of itscylinder D. This passage H allows Water to pass freely from the rear ofthe cylinder to the tank. Another passage, J, is formed from the tank tothe front end of the cylinder and is iitted With a Valve, J', openingoutward from the tank to allow Water to pass from the tank into the rearend of the cylinder.

Having thus described the nature of my invention and the manner ofperforming the same, I Would have it understood that I claim as myimprovements in gun-carriages*- l. The combination, substantially asdescribed, of the gun-slide, the pair of hydraulic cylinders, one oneither side of the gun, carrying the gun by its trunnions and movingalong the slide, pistons Within the cylinders connected by their rodswith the slides, and passages in the pistons by which liquid passes fromone end of the cylinders to the other when the gun recoils.

2. rEhe combination, substantially as set forth, of a pair of hydrauliccylinders, one on either side of the gun which they carry, the slidesupporting the cylinders and along which they recoil, pistons Within thecylinders connected by their rods with the slide, passages through thepistons, valves iitted to these passages, springs holding the valves totheir seats, and the external passages itted with valves and connectingthc ends of the cylinders.

p 3. The combination, substantially as set forth, of a pair of hydrauliccylinders, one on either side of the gun which they carry, a slide alongWhich the cylinders recoil, pistons within the cylinders connected bytheir rods With the slide, passages through the pistons, valves fittedto these passages, springs acting upon the valves to hold them to theirseats, passages connecting the ends of the cylinders, and pumpsconnected with these passages.

A. NOBLE. lVitnesses:

WM. JOHNGREY,

Notary Publ/ic. WILLIAM J. OGLE.

